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D&C 107 is a great section about priesthood. I once
tried to summarize it down, and it was virtually impossible. Recently I was
reading v40-52 and noticed some interesting things I hadn’t seen before.

40 The
order of this priesthood was confirmed to be handed down from father to son,
and rightly belongs to the literal descendants of the chosen seed, to whom the
promises were made.

41 This
order was instituted in the days of Adam, and came down by lineage in the
following manner:

42 From
Adam to Seth, who was ordained by Adam at the age of sixty-nine years, and was
blessed by him three years previous to his (Adam’s) death, and received the
promise of God by his father, that his posterity should be the chosen of the
Lord, and that they should be preserved unto the end of the earth;

43 Because
he (Seth) was a perfect man, and his likeness was the express likeness of his
father, insomuch that he seemed to be like unto his father in all things, and
could be distinguished from him only by his age.

44 Enos
was ordained at the age of one hundred and thirty-four years and four months,
by the hand of Adam.

45 God
called upon Cainan in the wilderness in the fortieth year of his age; and he
met Adam in journeying to the place Shedolamak. He was eighty-seven years old
when he received his ordination.

46 Mahalaleel
was four hundred and ninety-six years and seven days old when he was ordained
by the hand of Adam, who also blessed him.

47 Jared
was two hundred years old when he was ordained under the hand of Adam, who also
blessed him.

48 Enoch
was twenty-five years old when he was ordained under the hand of Adam; and he
was sixty-five and Adam blessed him.

49 And he
saw the Lord, and he walked with him, and was before his face continually; and
he walked with God three hundred and sixty-five years, making him four hundred
and thirty years old when he was translated.

50 Methuselah
was one hundred years old when he was ordained under the hand of Adam.

51 Lamech
was thirty-two years old when he was ordained under the hand of Seth.

52 Noah
was ten years old when he was ordained under the hand of Methuselah. (D&C
107:42-52)

These verses tell us how the priesthood was handed down from
father to son, which tells us that ideally it is part of righteous families.

I noticed that the men were ordained at many different ages:
69, 134, 87, 496, 200, 25, 100, 32, 10…. It shows that ordination is not
something that comes at a certain age, but with maturity and faithfulness.
Today, our church seems to tie it to ages-- 12, 14, 16, 18, but ultimately
faithfulness is the deciding factor, as judged by the bishop. (Ordination to
elder probably requires an interview with the stake president, but I’m not sure
about that. Someone correct me?)

Another thing I notice is that many of those who were
ordained in these verses received it from Adam. Adam ordained Seth, Enos,
Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah. It is possible Adam did it
because he was the presiding authority at that time and the fathers deferred to
him.(Anyone with additional
insight on this may chime in too.)

I also notice little stories about the spirituality of these
men. For instance, Seth tried very hard to be just like his father Adam, and he
succeeded such that people could only distinguish them by age. Think what that
would be like to have a child so carefully copying you. Some things you might
not recognize were wrong unless you saw him doing it too, so you’d have to
repent pretty quick, lest you lead theme deeper into error.

There’s also a story in v45 about God calling Cainan in the
wilderness when he was 40, and he met Adam while journeying to Shedolamak, then
was ordained when 87. That story is interesting because it shows us Cainan felt
spiritual impressions and obeyed them and evidently felt that meeting Adam was
what the Lord wanted him to do. I suppose he progressed over 42 more years to
the point that Adam felt he was ready for ordination.Sometimes divinely orchestrated meetings with a priesthood
holder can change the course of our lives, and perhaps this meeting with Adam
was one of those.It also shows it
can take time for people to become worthy and ready for the priesthood. But
once they are, surely their power is no less valid than any other priesthood
holders.Looked at it that way,
Cainan’s story could be an inspiration to men in the church who might be
ashamed of not progressing.

The way these stories are so spare, it makes me wonder what
formative spiritual experiences of ours could be distilled down into a verse.

3
comments:

Cleon Skousen's old classic book "The First 2000 Years" has some nifty insights to this very subject. My Dad had us read it when we were young to prepare for reading the Old Testament. You may enjoy it too.

The Bishop is the man with the keys of the Aaronic priesthood. The Stake President holds the keys of the Melchizedek priesthood in the stake, so he has to interview and approve the ordination to elder or high priest.

As far as the ages thing goes, you are right and wrong:the Adamic priesthood that was handed down is now known as the Melchizedek priesthood. The offices in the Melchizedek priesthood are given only when you receive a calling that requires it so the ages vary a great deal.

Third, all of the ages listed, other than the 496 age are within the first quarter of their maximum age, so they would still be considered young men.

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